Press.
Boilerplate, key facts, downloadable logos and high-resolution photography, founder and leadership bios, and the full archive of every third-party story written about Rhinory. Everything you need to write about a winery that lives with a rhino.
The paragraph you can paste, and the facts behind it.
Use the boilerplate verbatim. The fact sheet beside it is the one-glance reference for dates, names, partners, and figures. A short note on the errors that have crept into earlier coverage sits below. We’d love for you to get it right.
Rhinory is a 55-acre winery and Southern White Rhino sanctuary in Fredericksburg, Texas, founded in 2022 by Craig Stevens and Chesney Castleberry. The estate pairs South-African-influenced winemaking with active rhino conservation. Blake, an ambassador Southern White Rhino, lives on-site under the care of a credentialed rhino-keeping team led by Christine Bobko (former Denver Zoo, President of the International Rhino Keeper Association). The Rhinory Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, partners with the International Rhino Foundation, Care for Wild Africa, and Ol Pejeta Conservancy to support rhino protection programs in South Africa, Kenya, and Indonesia. Wine. Art. Conservation.
Please note · common factual errors to avoid
A few details have been mis-stated in earlier coverage and tend to propagate. The corrections, so a fresh piece starts from the right facts:
- Rhinory opened in 2019 → Spring 2022.Error appeared in Texas Monthly, Oct 2023
- The property is 44 acres → 55 acres.Error appeared in Secret Houston, 2022
- Trey Chapman is a Rhinory owner → Chapman is a Fort Worth food & travel blogger (TreysChowDown.com) who visited as a guest.Originated as an AI-snippet error · never a published claim
Fact sheet · at a glance
- Founded
- Spring 2022
- Location
- 13112 E US 290, Fredericksburg, TX 78624Pedernales River · Texas Hill Country
- Property
- 55 acres
- Founders
- Craig Stevens · Chesney Castleberry
- Wine Director
- David Bradbury
- Managing Director
- Nicole Rosenstiel
- Rhino Programs
- Christine Bobko, Director32 yrs Denver Zoo · President, International Rhino Keeper Association
- Resident rhino
- BlakeSouthern White Rhino · ~4,100 lb · in residence since 2019
- Wine program
- TEXSOM 2022: five Judges’ Selection medalsMost of any Texas winery that year
- SA collaborators
- Catherine Marshall · Richard Kershaw MW
- Foundation
- Rhinory Foundation · 501(c)(3)EIN 99-5075387
- Partners
- International Rhino Foundation · Care for Wild Africa · Ol Pejeta Conservancy
- Impact
- $1.5M+ raised for conservation through 2025
- 2026 honoree
- Mital PatelInaugural Catalyst for Conservation Award
- 2026 Gala
- Saturday, October 17, 20264th annual
- Hours
- Open daily 11am to 5:30pmLast pour 5pm
Quotes you can attribute.
The founder origin line and the strongest third-party citations in the corpus, verbatim, with full attribution. For fresh quotes from leadership, write to [email protected].
I like wine, I love wineries, I love rhino conservation, so we really put those two ideas together.
Fredericksburg is the crown jewel of the Hill Country.
It’s clear the owners and employees are passionate about conserving the world’s rhinoceros population. This is no gimmick.
Axios San Antonio · March 2026
And Napa doesn’t even have a rhino.
Texas Monthly · “Don’t Napa My 290” · October 2023
I felt like if I traveled to Africa for a brief moment as I entered the premises.
KLAQ 95.5 El Paso · June 2023
Logos, photography, the fact sheet, and bios.
Press-use logos and high-resolution imagery, a one-page printable fact sheet, and ready-to-paste bios. Asset packs are being prepared. Request early access through [email protected].
B1 Logo pack
B2 High-resolution photography
B3 Fact sheet
One-page fact sheet.
A printable PDF with the boilerplate and the full key-facts list, formatted for a single page. Built for filing and quick reference.
PendingB4 Bios · for press use
Craig Stevens co-founded Rhinory in 2022 with Chesney Castleberry, pairing a love of wine and wineries with a commitment to rhino conservation. He leads the estate’s wine program and its partnerships with international rhino-protection organizations.
Chesney Castleberry co-owns Rhinory and helped establish the estate in the Fredericksburg wine corridor along US-290, positioning the winery within the Texas Hill Country’s destination-tourism scene.
David Bradbury directs Rhinory’s winemaking, which blends Texas estate fruit with a South-African-influenced program developed alongside collaborators including Catherine Marshall and Master of Wine Richard Kershaw.
Nicole Rosenstiel serves as Managing Director, overseeing operations across the estate, tasting room, and the Rhinory Foundation’s conservation-giving programs.
Christine Bobko directs Rhinory’s rhino programs and leads the credentialed keeping team caring for Blake. She spent 32 years at the Denver Zoo and serves as President of the International Rhino Keeper Association.
Every story written about us.
The complete record of third-party coverage, 48 articles and one long-form podcast across 38 publications, June 2022 to March 2026. Filter by year or beat; newest first. Links point to the original publications.
Mital Patel coverage cluster.
The inaugural Catalyst for Conservation Award honoree at the October 17, 2026 gala. The gala and award have no editorial coverage yet; this cluster establishes Patel’s record as a wildlife photographer ahead of the pitch.
“Bring Back the Rhino” partnership coverage.
A decade of B2B floor-covering trade press (FCNews, FLOOR Trends, Floor Daily) covering Mohawk’s SmartStrand campaign, 20% of sales to the IRF, a $500K-over-5-years goal, and confirmed active through October 2025.
Conservation-thesis Smart-Brevity feature, “my new favorite Texas Hill Country winery, this is no gimmick.” Names Blake’s breeding-program future explicitly.
Profile of the 2026 Catalyst for Conservation Award honoree in the run-up to the gala.
Long-form interview with the wildlife photographer.
Dallas debut piece on Patel’s conservation photography.
In-conversation profile that names Rhinory as sponsor of Patel’s Ol Pejeta x Tembo launch.
Winning Edge retailers earn an October 2025 trip to Rhinory, confirming the partnership is active through at least Oct 2025.
Brand refresh keeps SmartStrand, and the Rhinory tie-in, in active rotation.
Townsquare re-syndication of the launch piece three years on. Rhinory stays in rotation.
Exhibitions press release for the wildlife photographer.
Dallas art-magazine feature on Mital Patel.
Interview on photographing Najin and Fatu at Ol Pejeta, context for the 2026 award (Rhinory not named).
Standalone profile with tasting notes on the 2021 Marsanne.
Guide to Fredericksburg animal encounters featuring Rhinory.
Military-base community “Traveling Soldier” travel column.
Winery roundup that includes Rhinory.
Care for Wild rescue story on Hercules’ recovery from a hyena attack (Rhinory not named).
Campaign extension under the “Good for the Rhino, Good for the Home” banner.
Campaign refresh deep-dive. Outlet discontinued by BNP Media, link redirects.
Listicle naming Rhinory among five favorite wineries.
Winter-wineries roundup framing Rhinory as an “esteemed producer.”
Year-end top-ten Hill Country list with Rhinory included.
Major state-tourism roundup, Rhinory listed first; names the Texas Picpoul Blanc as the family favorite.
Major prestige piece, leads with Blake and Rhinory; closes with the corpus’s strongest line, “And Napa doesn’t even have a rhino.” (Note: states a 2019 open date, see common errors.)
Covers the first Winos for Rhinos Gala at Texas Wine Collective; names three full-time rhino keepers.
Carries the visitor quote: “I felt like if I traveled to Africa for a brief moment as I entered the premises.”
IRF’s dedicated Rhinory partner page on rhinos.org.
Care for Wild milestone-weight piece on Hercules (Rhinory not named as adopter).
20% of SmartStrand sales pledged to the IRF toward a $500K-over-five-years goal, $100K reached in the first 11 months.
Travel-planning aggregator listing.
Trade-press news on the SmartStrand x Rhinory campaign.
Kickoff exclusive on the SmartStrand “Bring Back the Rhino” campaign.
Deep-dive on the life-size marketing campaign. Outlet discontinued by BNP Media, link redirects.
“Big cause” partnership feature. Outlet discontinued by BNP Media, link redirects.
Partnership announcement, 20% of SmartStrand sales to the IRF, goal of $500K over five years.
Long-form podcast conversation with founder Craig Stevens.
Hill Country lifestyle/wine feature on the 50/50 Texas-South Africa program; 3.5 acres of varietals.
Travel roundup citing the Pedernales River setting.
Includes a Christine Bobko interview and Species Survival Plan detail.
Trade-press credential anchor, five Judges’ Selection medals; names SA collaborators Catherine Marshall and Richard Kershaw MW.
Deepest operational detail in the corpus, a 3.5-year USDA permitting process and 478 SSP species.
Houston day-trip framing. (States “44 acres”, incorrect; the property is 55 acres. See common errors.)
Austin-market TV launch, carries Chesney Castleberry’s “crown jewel of the Hill Country” quote.
KXAN-syndicated launch piece for the Austin market.
Townsquare Media re-syndication for East Texas.
Aggregator launch syndication.
Day-trip-from-Austin framing, the only editorial outlet to name Care for Wild and IRF as partners.
Lifestyle-network feature on the Winos for Rhinos wine club and the “three additional rhinos” plan.
Fort Worth food/travel blogger’s visit recap. (Chapman is a visiting blogger, not an owner, see common errors.)
Travel-directory listing.
Stories we’d love to see covered.
Threads that haven’t been told yet. We’re not pitching an angle. Here are the canonical facts; the story is yours to find.
The 2026 Catalyst for Conservation Award & Gala.
The Rhinory Foundation’s inaugural Catalyst for Conservation Award honors wildlife photographer Mital Patel at the fourth annual gala. The award and evening have no editorial coverage as of mid-2026. The kit is built to change that.
Liora & Hercules.
A sui-generis member program names and supports orphaned calves overseas: Liora (“My Light,” born Jan 29, 2025 to mother Lola at Ol Pejeta) and Hercules at Care for Wild. The facts are here; the angle is yours.
Conservation-commerce as a model.
Rhinory, the International Rhino Foundation, Care for Wild, and Ol Pejeta operate as an integrated commerce-to-protection pipeline: every bottle and visit routes support to field conservation. A category few have examined.
Blake’s role in the Species Survival Plan.
Blake came to Rhinory on a breeding loan from Fossil Rim and sits within the American Species Survival Plan. Launch coverage mentioned it in passing; no one has developed the breeding-program story into a feature.
Writing about Rhinory?
Reach out for interviews, fresh quotes, asset access, or a visit. One inbox routes every media request. We aim to respond within two business days.
Fredericksburg, TX 78624